The present invention relates to a unique arrangement for fastening facing structural units and more particularly to an inventive mounting system for fastening and disengaging facing panels one of which panels is provided with slots and the other of which panels is provided with gripping members to cooperate with such slots to hold the panels fast in uniform relation.
It is generally known to fasten two structural units together by including slots in one of the units and gripping projections on the other to fasteningly engage in such slots, attention being directed to U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,034, issued to Irving W. Shell on Oct. 10, 1972, which teaches such an arrangement and includes a spring-loaded locking bar to lock one of the projections on one structural unit in place when engaged and assembled with a slot on the other structural unit. Attention further is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,172, issued to Ruediger Einhorn on Jun. 24, 1975, which teaches an adjustable cam locking device included with a slot-projection assembly for a support member mounted to a slotted panel wall. Attention also is directed to the slot and projection assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,856, issued to Gerhard Wesseler on Jan. 25, 1977, which teaches the use of wedges to tighten hook projections when assembled into slots and to U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,368, issued to Frederic R. Pettings et al on Jul. 14, 1981, which discloses the use of a comparatively complex structure including a spring and a locking device disposed in a panel wall to urge and lock a slidable hook member into engagement with a standard to which the panel wall is joined. In addition, attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,832, issued to William K. Branham et al on Sep. 1, 1992, which teaches a slotted supporting panel structure similar to the supporting panel disclosed herein, the disclosed supporting panel slots being shaped to receive a mounting stud and clamp assembly which, as described hereinafter can be utilized in consolidation with the novel structure of the present invention.
Finally, it is to be noted that the present invention, although not limited to the use thereof, can effectively utilize commercially available mounting clips in the novel structure described herein. In this regard, attention is directed to the long available set of four mirror clips sold as a package by C.R. Laurence Co., Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif. The package includes two stationary or unitary clips and two spring-loaded adjustable clips, the clips being accompanied by screws for mounting on a mirror support panel. The stationary or unitary clips can be set at a desired height on the support panel to receive and support the bottom of a mirror to be mounted on the support panel. Appropriate markings for setting the adjustable clips at the mirror top can then be made on the support panel and the adjustable clips then set on the support panel at such markings. The mirror then can be mounted by inserting the top edge thereof in the spring-loaded adjustable clips pushing the mirror up on the clips against the spring-load to thus set the mirror down in the bottom unitary clips with the mirror being compressively supported on the support panel between the top and bottom clips.
The present invention utilizes spring-loaded clips of this type and the slotted wall and mounting arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,832, in a novel structural mounting system heretofore unknown in the art, the novel structural arrangement disclosed herein allowing for straight forward and economical manufacture and assembly with a minimum of parts involved and with a minimum of steps required to accomplish assembly operations. Not only does the unique structure of the present invention lend itself to ready domestic and commercial use for mounting lamps, shelves and display items on a wall, but in addition it has unique structural use in other display areas including architectural wall paneling and billboard displays, allowing the holding of a supported member in these numerous possible applications in fast relation to a support member without an undesirable bending or arcing of such supported member.
Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth herein.